Agent autonomy has a pricing problem
34% of professional developers say unpredictable task cost limits how much autonomy they give AI agents. How metered pricing shapes vendor choice.
Blog
Insights, research and trends on the global developer economy.
Posts
AI coding ROI: 62% of senior developers save time, against 42% of juniors
62% of senior developers save time with AI coding tools, against 42% of juniors. This piece examines how ROI is measured and the risk to junior hiring.
Introducing SlashData Intelligence for Software Engineering Leaders: recurring research for engineering decisions
A recurring research programme gives CTOs and VPs of Engineering an independent benchmark on AI ROI, team structure and the decisions reshaping software teams.
Open models lead developer adoption at 79%, but trail closed models in production rates by 12 percentage points
79% of developers use open models, yet only 51% reach production versus 63% for closed ones. The gap is operational, not model quality.
The Rise of the Builder - and Other Developer Trends We're Measuring in Q3 2026
Our 32nd survey of more than 15,000 developers tracks a new builder segment using AI tools. It also covers productivity and cloud provider choice.
2 AI software developer insights you need to know in Q2 2026: AI in developers’ workflow & the ROI measurement gap
49% of developers use AI for code generation, yet few hand over most of the work, and 80% of tech leaders use AI tools. See how they measure its value.
75% of professional developers are using AI-assisted tools: Insights on Developer Tools Usage and Measuring AI ROI
AI-assisted tool use among professional developers rose from 61% to 75% in two years. The post also examines how technology leaders measure AI ROI.
What Liam Bollman-Dodd Said About Cloud Native, AI and Platform Engineering at KubeCon EU 2026
The cloud native ecosystem now includes nearly 20 million developers as AI and platform engineering widen who counts. A KubeCon EU 2026 interview.
There are 19.9M Cloud Native Developers in Q1 2026
The cloud native community grew from 15.6M to 19.9M developers, now 39% of all developers. The CNCF report breaks down trends by region and sector.
14 software developer trends & insights you need to know in Q1 2026
Fourteen data-backed findings on AI adoption, agentic AI, programming languages, DevOps and cloud. Built for CTOs, CPOs and engineering leaders.
What game developers actually think about AI
66% of game developers now use AI for coding or creative assets, rising to 76% of professionals. They weigh faster production against job concerns.
Rapid growth in edge AI developers and where the opportunity lies
29% of professional developers, 11 million people, now build AI for edge devices. We forecast growth of 30% to 64% and map the regional hotspots.
